


It Gives Us Hope

by Kiwismoof



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, First Meetings, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-20
Updated: 2016-06-01
Packaged: 2018-06-09 14:35:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6911182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiwismoof/pseuds/Kiwismoof
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack's the brand new CEO of Hyperion and he's done a bang up job so far, venting people out airlocks when they anger him, terrifying the competition, and bringing Hyperion to the top of the market. A stupid mistake on the part of one of the new employees can either end his life or begin it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is my first fic here, but not the first I've ever written. This is, however, my first Rhack fic and I hope it pleases. I'm pulling Rhys' timeline back a bit so he can meet Jack before he's completely nutso-crazo. This probably won't actually edge into smut, but if people want it to, I can work that into later chapters. There's also a cameo in this chapter.
> 
> So yeah, enjoy.

CEO of Hyperion, Handsome Jack, despite all of his faults actually did well where he was. Not that he acknowledged his faults, good heavens no. Don't be ridiculous. Handsome Jack was obviously the hero of this story, without a doubt. Saved Elpis and Pandora from the evil Lost Legion, saved the company from that idiot Mr. Tassiter, he was steering Hyperion right. It didn't take much common sense to see where it was broken but it took a lot of effort to fix. Over time, he'd brought the company into the spotlight. Made it number one. And that was how he found himself sitting in a meeting with three idiots, reps from Maliwan, Jakobs, and his own sales rep. Seriously, who was this guy and why did he even hire him? The guy was an idiot. 

He was largely regretting not just capping all three of them in the head, flushing them out the airlock and starting over, but that would look bad on PR. As newly remade as the company was, that would certainly cause them a hit to profits and he couldn't have that just yet. No, later, when he'd built the company up into a fortress, _then_ he could flush as many reps out airlocks as he wanted without worrying about the backlash it would cause, because Hyperion was just the best so people would overlook it. 

"Oh come on, what do I even pay you for?" He shot dramatically at the man pitching the deal for his company. "Look, just sit down, shut up, and let me--" But a buzz at the door stopped him. He let out an annoyed growl of frustration and walked across the room, hitting the release. The door slid open and he came face to face with a brunette. Lovely little mismatched set of complete heterochromatic eyes, yellow and black Hyperion issue cybernetic arm, and a stack of paperwork in his arms. Those blue and brown eyes spared a look past Jack to see the three other occupants in the room and he paled. He'd interrupted a meeting and he only just realised his mistake. 

Jack could see in his expression, that was almost comically terrified, mind you, that he knew he'd just forfeited his life then and there. Like a deer caught in headlights, those eyes darted back up to Jack, pleading for an escape. The kid took a step back and found a Hyperion issue pistol in his face for his efforts. He squeezed his eyes shut and Jack rolled his own heterochromatic gaze. Everyone stilled, knowing the new kid just died before Jack even pulled the trigger. Even the Maliwan and Jakobs reps seemed to hold their breaths. Word of Jack's impulsive tendencies to shoot annoyances in the face or flush them out airlocks was widely known, but rarely seen to eyes outside Helios' staff. 

The CEO sighed just before the gun retorted smoothly and stepped away from the door, dragging the body with him inside and slamming it shut again. The Maliwan rep jumped and yelped and the Jakobs rep leapt from his seat to scuttle behind it. 

When Rhys opened his eyes, he realised he hadn't been shot. He even double checked himself for a bullet wound to make sure, but found none. When Jack released him, he looked up and the CEO motioned to the Hyperion rep's chair with the barrel of the gun. Rhys followed the motion with his eyes and spotted the rep with a brand new hole in his head, shocked expression being his dying gasp. Rhys trembled, keeping a tight hold of the reports in his arms. When Rhys didn't move Jack sighed yet again, snapped the gun against its holster and took the reports from Rhys. 

"What's your name, princess?"

"U-uh--R-Rhys." Rhys stammered. 

"Well, okay _U-uh R-Rhys_ ," Jack mocked his terrified stutter. "you've just been promoted. Clear your chair and take a seat. We have work to discuss." Jack ordered and Rhys only hesitated for a heartbeat before rushing to do as told lest the next bullet actually ventilates his head.

**\-----**

A good hour later, the meeting was dismissed with the two reps leaving the Helios station as quickly as their legs could carry them with Jack watching until they were out of sight. The CEO was cackling quietly to himself as he lounged in the door frame of his office. Rhys still hadn't stood from his seat, having not been dismissed by Jack just yet. The body on the floor next to his chair had since leaked various cranial fluids and blood into a messy puddle which turned Rhys' stomach. He was _not_ cut out for this shit! 

Jack keying his ECHO startled him--he'd been jumpy since entering the room. Probably jumpier than the two reps seeing as it had nearly been him lying dead on the floor. 

"Meg, sweetheart, see to it that whats-his-nuts' family gets his severance package if he has a family and send clean up to my office." The woman's reply was a stuttered affirmative, but Jack ignored her after that, turning to Rhys. 

"Okay, kitten, what the friggen' hell was _that_?" Jack's words seemed harsh, but his tone was highly amused. "Where the hell did you even pull those schematics from, anyway? Shit, I didn't know we had gold like that buried in our database--eeeh, bring 'em up for me again. I wanna look 'em over." Jack beckoned for Rhys to come closer and the young man quickly obliged, jumping to his feet. He turned the palm of his cybernetic arm upward and twitched his fingers to activate the holographic projector, bringing up the specs for the new elemental line of Hyperion pistols. 

"Corrosive. Nice touch, but you know how much of a pain in the ass that is to manufacture? The elemental effect--"

"--would eat through the casing in no time if it wasn't contained properly. I know." Rhys cut in startling Jack. Those were the most words the kid had spoken to him directly since entering the room. When he pitched his idea at Jakobs and Maliwan as an intimidation stunt, he'd found his backbone. Now, whether that was because he'd been terrified for his life because screwing up meant a bullet in the head, or whether he actually had that kind of backbone in the face of everyone except Jack was unknown to the CEO at the moment. 

"Yuh-huh. But I'm getting the feeling you've already worked that little issue out in that pretty little head of yours, haven't you? You didn't answer me, though. Where did you find these specs?" Jack's eyes narrowed and Rhys all but squeaked, losing that backbone of his. It made Jack smirk knowing that even with the praise, he could still scare the kid senseless. The success didn't go to his head yet. 

"I-I um... Th-they're mine. Just something I've been working on." He stammered. 

"And when were you planning on sharing these designs?" Jack raised an eyebrow threateningly. "Because if you were planning on just running off with them and selling them to the highest--"

"No! No, I wasn't. I-I wanted..." _to impress you_ but that went unsaid. "I wanted to finish them first. Before I sent them to-to you, sir." 

Unsaid or not, Jack picked up on it and his following grin was toothy and almost vicious. "Oh, kiddo, you did good today. You did real good. Doesn't mean I still won't throw your skinny ass out an airlock if you're lying to me, but I don't think Jakobs or Maliwan will be trying to claw at my throat again any time soon." Jack moved across the room and dropped into his chair, reclining back and kicking his feet up onto the desk while folding his arms behind his head. "That's an ECHOeye, right? I brought up your file while you were scaring the piss out of the competition. Interesting surgery. Data-mining, right? Tell me you scanned them." 

"Yeah." An all-encompassing affirmative. 

"Aaaaand? Don't keep me waiting, pumpkin." 

"Oh, uh... Nothing interesting. The Jakobs guy was packing a Pangolin shield, but nothing else interesting. Maliwan had a hidden spike shield." Rhys shrugged. 

"Huh. And I said no shields." The CEO sounded more mildly in thought than actually annoyed. "You wanna see how well their shields hold up while they're floating in space?" He grinned suddenly and kicked his feet back to the floor, standing. 

Rhys quickly intercepted him. "Wh-wait! Wait, Handsome Jack, sir, they um... Wouldn't this whole meeting be kinda useless if they don't actually get to report back to their companies? I-I mean, you don't wanna sit through another of these meetings, do you?" 

Jack rounded on Rhys, studying him silently for a moment. Long enough that Rhys really thought he might have crossed the line again and really, how many times could you actually get away with that when it came to Handsome Jack? Usually never, but he'd been lucky several times now, so why was he pressing his luck? The man's imposing presence forced Rhys to back up, and he kept backing up until he tripped over the chair, falling into it with a startled squawk. Jack leaned down, placing both hands on the arm rests, caging Rhys in and leaned close to his face. Despite the fear choking up his airways and making his head spin, Rhys couldn't help but notice just how beautiful the man's eyes really were. Yeah, they may be full of dark, cold rage, but it sent a spike of excitement through his chest that he tried to quell. This was not the time to be excited! Yes, Jack was so close he could smell his cologne, see himself in the reflection of the man's eyes, but he was also probably about to die! 

Abruptly, Jack pulled back with a subtle grin. "Smart kid. Now get the hell out of my office before you wet yourself on my upholstery. Oh, and Rhysie, see Meg at the service counter about your new promotion. She'll get you settled into your new office." Jack backed up to give Rhys the chance to escape, and escape he did. When the door slid shut behind him, Jack chuckled. "Cute kid. Stupidly smart, and just plain stupid at the same time. What'd you think, sweetie?" 

_"I think... he's just what you've been looking for, Jack."_ A female's voice crackled over the comm. He returned to his desk and dropped back into his chair, touching the picture frame holding the picture of a little girl within its boarders.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mostly dialogue to build up a few little twists. It'll pick up, I promise. I lean towards relatively short chapters in favour of quicker updates, so I hope that makes up for the length.

_"Woah dude. Seriously? Handsome--"_ The voice on the other end of the comm lowered almost conspiratorially. _"Handsome Jack? Like, THE CEO of the company we work for? The guy you have like a dozen posters--"_

"Yeah, Vaughn, I get it. Yes, _the_ Handsome Jack. He just... _kerpew!_ " Rhys mimicked the sound of a gunshot. "shot the guy right on the spot and gave me his job. Like, it was unreal!" 

_"Bro, I don't think I have to tell you this, but I think you were lucky he didn't shoot_ you _for interrupting his meeting."_

"Yeah... I'm still not sure why he didn't. But he liked my designs so I guess I get to live another day or two. Y'know, until his next meeting, anyway." And that was something of a terrifying thought. 

_"Okay, I gotta go, dude. But I'll see you at the apartment and I'm sure you'll gush more about the meeting then."_

"Yeah, catch ya later, Vaughn." Rhys ended the call only to be startled when another voice chimed in over his comm immediately after. 

_"You were lucky, but I think Jack saw something in you and I think if you play the hand you've been dealt correctly, you can achieve great things with him."_ The voice was soothing, female, and radiating confidence. It startled Rhys. 

"Wh-uhh...?" His mismatched gaze darted down to the device and realised it pictured a woman he'd never seen before. She was beautiful with piercing blue eyes. "Um. How did you--?"

_"That doesn't matter. What matters is that I'm a friend and I want to help you."_

"Yeah, I don't... You sound like a creepy voyeur and this is just setting off all kinds of alarm bells in my head. What if Jack--" Rhys was cut off yet again, which was starting to really ruffle his feathers. 

_"Jack can't know I'm helping you. Just trust me when I say I'm working in the best interest of both of you. If I say anything you don't like, you could always just not follow through."_ She assured him. 

"Okaaaaay. But wouldn't taking someone else's advice, y'know, get me killed if Jack found out?" 

She had to give it to him, his logic was more sound than the Vault Hunters, but they didn't know a lick about Jack when they started. Her gaze zoomed in on the display, blinking those blue eyes at him carefully. _"I'll take the blame if it comes to that. You're special, Rhys. Jack hasn't let anyone live since... well, that doesn't matter. The fact that he didn't shoot you at the door means something, I promise."_

**\-----**

The next few work days were different. Rhys settled into his new desk and set to work, but he honestly didn't even know where to begin. Yvette and Vaughn stopped by to take a look, but were quickly ushered away when it was time to punch in. Rhys was even more traumatised when Handsome Jack himself stopped by for a visit late one afternoon. 

"Heya pumpkin. How's it going? Get the designs for that corrosive resistant containment we were talking about whipped up yet?" Jack asked, lounging in the doorway. 

"Oh! Uh--yes? Here!" Rhys jumped up and accidentally knocked three folders from his desk, the papers spilling all over the floor. "Shit, sorry!" He scuttled across the floor trying to catch the fluttering sheets when Jack squatted down to level with the kid. 

"Okay, as much as I love watching you lot squirm when I enter a room, you're seriously taking the cake on cowering, kiddo. Relaaaaax." Rhys stilled and looked up at the CEO, took a steadying breath, and nodded. "Good. Now. Which folder?" 

The brunette scanned the floor and pointed out the folder containing the requested files. Jack scooped them up and stood back up. He moved across the room and dropped into Rhys' chair as the younger man gathered his other files. 

"Wow, I'm actually impressed. You came up with this all by yourself?" When Rhys nodded, Jack grinned. "Huh. This blows our previous models out of the friggen' water if the numbers are right! Maliwan doesn't even have anything like this! I'll get R & D working on synthesising the materials to these specifications right away. We'll test this out as soon as we have a prototype containment unit." Jack hopped right back up, walked across the room and patted Rhys on the head as he made for the door. 

"Handsome Jack, sir! I... Thanks." His hands stilled on the papers as he looked up to his idol. "For giving me this opportunity. For... for not shooting me." 

"Hey, call me Jack, kiddo. And, you're welcome. Just don't screw up." Jack winked and walked out the door, letting it slide shut behind him. 

Jack sent the designs to the lab as promised and they quickly went to work on following through with Jack's unrealistic time table. The CEO stopped at his office, looking over the numbers and running simulations on his computer, actually surprised they seemed to check out. 

"Hey, baby girl, did you see this data?"

_"I did, Jack. It's impressive."_ She replied obediently. 

"And you ran the same simulations already, I guess? What were your results?" He asked, still looking sceptically at the data. 

_"The same as yours. They seem sound. I can't find a flaw in the calculations. Assuming they properly synthesise the compounds, I don't see why it won't work. If they manage a successful prototype, you could always digistruct copies from the template."_

"That's exactly what I was thinking. So, where's the catch?" Jack asked, finally setting his ECHO down and leaning back to look at the ceiling. 

_"I'm... sorry? I don't..."_

"The catch, Angel. Nothing this good ever just falls in someone's lap. There's a catch. The kid's a Maliwan spy or maybe he's... iunno. A really... ...something." 

_"I think you're overthinking this, Jack. Not everyone is out to betray you."_ Angel's tone was almost sad when she spoke. Her father had been a good man once. Before the death of her mother, anyway. Or, at least, she remembered him that way. His childhood had been rough, from what she understood, but this extreme paranoia came from repeated betrayals. 

"Nah. Tut tut, pumpkin. See, this is why I've gotta protect you. You're too innocent. Too sweet. Too naive. The world will eat you up and spit you out like that." Jack genuinely thought that at this point. "Nuh, nuh, nuh. There's something and I'm gonna find it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the kudos and bookmarks already! I was really excited to see people already seem interested!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, wow. Angel became far more of a prominent character than she was meant to be. But I kind of enjoy writing her. This felt a little rushed, but I hope you guys like it!

"Just thought you'd like to know," Jack's voice cut into the silence of Rhys' office making the younger man jump. "the containment is holding pretty damn well. Took a few tries and a few engineers airlocked for stupid mistakes, but it's holding now." The CEO watched Rhys' eyes dart until they found Jack. He even grinned at the sight of his boss now. Jack wasn't sure if it was endearing or frustrating. He'd settle on both for the moment. 

"That's good. I-I mean, not the airlocked guys, but that it's holding." Rhys paused. "Um. How did you get in here?"

Jack just stared for a moment, not quite believing Rhys just asked that. "My space station. I can get into any room I want." His reply was oh so dry. 

"No, I mean--yeah, I got that. How'd you get in here without me hearing? Like, the door makes noise, Jack. It's not like you've been just standing there since I clocked in." Rhys chuckled nervously at the ridiculous thought. No way Jack would've just stood there patiently while he... 

"Oh, that? Yeah. I've been here the whole time." Rhys' laugh abruptly cut off with a choked sound, which only made Jack laugh. 

"Yh--oh. I um. Really?" 

"Uh. Yeah. What, you're worried that I might see the alarming number of magazines in your top drawer with my face on them? What is that, every issue I've ever been in? Oh, kiddo, you actually own more than I do. I didn't even know some of those issues existed."

Colour crept to Rhys' cheeks as Jack spoke. He traced his fingers along the handle of the drawer in question, wishing a black hole would blink into existence and swallow him up right here and now. Jack moved across the room, leaned over the desk, and looked Rhys over carefully. 

"You're blushing. You're _actually_ blushing! Oh, kitten, you're too cute."

"I'm not blushing! It's--it's just--it's... I admire you, okay? You're--you're like this... It's... Oh my god, stop laughing!" As Rhys spoke, Jack's cackle grew into a full on bout of hysterical laughter that left him doubled over the brunette's desk. Rhys crossed his arms and pouted, the blush only worsening as it reached his ears and down his neck while Jack remained in that state for several minutes. He wouldn't admit it, but seeing Jack so elated made him feel good, even if it was at his own expense. 

"Ohhhohooo, that's good Rhysie. That's, ahhhh. Okay, tell me, then. You wanna follow in my footsteps, huh? Become CEO of Hyperion?" Jack asked as soon as he was able to speak again without the words devolving into laughter.

"Some day, yeah. I mean, I'm just happy to get to work with you. It's surreal." 

With Rhys' honesty, Jack sobered up considerably, looking Rhys over carefully. He made a small hesitant sound in the back of his throat and lifted his weight off the desk. 

"Look at what you've done with Hyperion in such a short time. It's amazing. I don't think anyone's turned a company around that quickly before. You're a genius, Jack." But Jack remained quiet. Rhys was beginning to wonder if maybe he'd said the wrong thing somewhere, clamming up quickly at the thought. 

After the long, awkward silence was drawn out for long enough that Rhys really thought he'd offended Jack, the man finally looked away from him and cleared his throat. "You should stop by R & D and take a look at the prototype. Lemme know what you think." And with that, Jack briskly turned and left the room.

Rhys let his head drop to the desk and groaned. "What did I say wrong? I'm so stupid..." 

_"Give him time. Certain things in Jack's past have made it difficult for him to warm up to people."_

The female voice made Rhys start, hitting his knees against his desk and yelping in turn. The female actually giggled softly. 

_"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. I detected your heart rate speeding up and tuned into the conversation to make sure you were safe. Your vitals conveyed signs of... well... do you have a crush on Jack?"_

"What!? N-no! What would give you that idea? I was just flustered! I mean, he was being all weird and creepy! Of course my heart rate sped up--wait, are you a computer? An AI or something?" It dawned on him that she always seemed to be listening. She always knew when something was wrong or when he was alone. She spoke like she was monitoring him, which really, if she was some kind of artificial intelligence, she could be. 

_"Something like that."_ The giggle was gone from her voice, almost sounding sad to his ears. 

"Hey, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... I'm not making any friends today, am I?" 

_"No, no. It's not that. You're doing fine, Rhys."_

"Can I... ask you something?" He waited for her to acknowledge before he continued. "If I did have a crush on Jack... how much of a mistake would that be on a scale of like, forgetting to turn off the shower to spending my vacation on Pandora?" The question elicited another giggle. He liked it better when she laughed. It sounded like she didn't do it nearly enough. 

_"I'm not sure that's a question I can answer. But I can tell you, he isn't seeing anyone."_

Rhys happily absorbed that information and smiled. "Thanks." 

**\-----**

It'd been a long day and Rhys was still left thinking about the way Jack reacted earlier while he sat on the edge of his bed. How quiet he'd gotten and just left. What could he have done differently and what were the mysterious woman's motives? What did she get out of this? If she was really a computer program, why even bother with any of this? 

"You're thinking too hard, bro." Vaughn said as he walked into the room. 

"Yeah..." Rhys admitted, but didn't explain, which made Vaughn face him fully. His brows pinched together as he watched Rhys, even going as far as to stick out his lip while he thought. 

"This isn't about that weird dream you had the other night, is it?" 

"What?" Rhys blinked owlishly at his best friend and room mate. "What dream?"

"The one where Jack--"

"Where I what?" Jack asked as he stepped into the room in his boxers, socks, and Hyperion long sleeved shirt. He brushed right past Vaughn to Rhys. Jack shoved the younger man back, crawling atop him to straddle his hips. 

"Ohhh, you mean the one where I walk into your room unexpectedly, shove you against the bed, and we make out for the next thirty minutes like horny teenagers? That dream?" Jack asked, lips hovering a breath away from Rhys'. 

"That's the one." Vaughn answered as if he didn't even notice the scandal going on right in front of him. 

Rhys' cheeks burned with heat, his heart pounding rapidly in his chest, and all he could think about was just how close to Jack's lips his own were. How, if he tipped his head up just so, he could meet them. Taste them. Just as he did, a blaring noise interrupted their intimate moment and...

Rhys opened his eyes to see that Jack wasn't actually perched over him. He was hugging a pillow to his chest, staring up at his ceiling while his alarm sounded, telling him it was time to wake up. 

"...oh boy." He lifted the sheets and glanced down then slowly lowered them. " _Oh man_... I can't be having these dreams about my boss." 

"Rhys!" Vaughn called his name, eliciting a squawk from the brunette. "Dude, you're gonna be late! Your alarm's been going off for like ever now!" 

**\-----**

The next day, Rhys did stop by R & D, but Jack wasn't there. The engineer on the project said Jack took some time off. Said he had to head down to Pandora for something. Rhys had never been to the surface himself, but he'd heard it was a dangerous place to be. The thought of Jack heading down there without an army at his side made him nervous. Sure, the guy was capable, but Pandora was a death trap! 

It took several days before anyone even heard word from Jack and in that time, he heard no word from the AI, either. He even tried just randomly calling out for her in his room while he was alone. Several different times during the day. Once, even Vaughn heard him and asked who he was talking to, but Rhys denied saying a word. Knots twisted into more knots in his stomach as time passed, until he couldn't take it anymore. 

"Okay, Yvette, I know you can get a hold of him. So spill. I need access to the ECHOnet." 

"No way! Are you _trying_ to get me thrown out an airlock?!" Yvette exclaimed, throwing her arms out wildly. "He may like you enough not to vent you into space for disturbing him, but if I do it, he'll chuck me out faster than you can say _Claptrap_." 

"Seriously, I need to know if he's okay. He could be... I dunno! He could be dying! It's important!" He damn near stamped his foot on the ground like a petulant child. 

"No." 

"Urrrah! Fine!" Rhys turned and stomped away from her with a huff. 

"Don't do anything stupid, Rhys. Please?"

He ignored her as he went. He rounded a corner and slowly trudged down a hallway until he got a very stupid idea. A small smirk tugged at his lips and he crept around another corner, looking around, before sneaking into one of the offices. He pulled up the ECHOnet on one of the HUDs and initiated his hacking program. A few tries later, and he was in, bypassing system clearances and looking through all monitored calls. 

"It's just like pulling strings. I just have to find the one that comes back with the right tone. I can do this. I... just hope he's actually using his ECHO device." Each string Rhys pulled as he gave himself his little pep talk seemed to come back wrong. He eavesdropped into a few conversations he did not want to be part of. Ever. God, this Vasquez guy needed a life. Seriously. Who was he even talking to, his mother? About _those_ kinds of implants? Gross! But he kept trying until one brought back a snippet of a voice he recognised too well. It made his stomach drop when the words sunk in. 

_"--gel, I need--Shit! How many of these inbred assholes are there? Get me--"_ And the comm cut out. Whoever was on the other end seemed to keep trying to get in contact with him, but to no avail. He couldn't make out their call at all, he could just see there was something there. It was weird, but he was already working on triangulating the last known location of Jack's ECHO. As soon as he did, he pulled up Yvette's terminal, hacking her access code and sending down several WAR Loaders to the position. 

_"You shouldn't be hacking the ECHOnet. It's punishable by--"_

"Death, yeah, I know. Thanks for _finally_ answering me. Where the hell have you been? I needed your help." Rhys answered automatically to the female voice. 

_"I'm sorry... I... Rhys, thank you. For helping Jack. Those Loaders you sent just evened his odds."_

"Yeah, well, I could've helped sooner if you'd just answered me earlier." He pouted. "Besides, I have a crush, remember? Can't let him just up and die on me." 

Angel didn't reply, but she was smiling in her chamber. She touched the screen where she watched Jack fighting his way out of the mess he'd gotten himself into with the WAR Loaders at his back, defending him. She knew he wouldn't even know Rhys sent them to his aid, and she knew Rhys knew this as well, yet he did it anyway. That was true devotion. 

She glanced at the other screen, the live feed on Rhys and her smile warmed further. "You give me hope that he can change, even if neither of you know it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you for the kudos, bookmarks, and comments! 
> 
> There was also an Easter Egg in there referring to unused lines in Tales From the Borderlands. ;D Did you catch it?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay. I'm in the process of moving and don't have access to my computer, so this chapter was entirely written on my phone. 
> 
> This one's a little heavier. Enjoy!

"Miss me?" Jack asked with a grin, walking up alongside Rhys who was currently on his way to meet one of the techs working on the prototype. 

The brunette suppressed his own grin and fixed Jack with an innocent, wide-eyed look. "You were gone?" 

"Cute. I can still fire you." Jack retorted, then smoothly eased into a segue. "So, you know, a funny thing happened while I was gone. There was this weird glitch in security." He was watching Rhys carefully. "Yeah, and uh, apparently somehow that weird glitch managed to remote-access a requisitions terminal and sent a metric shit ton of WAR Loaders down to Pandora right where I just happened to be. Funny right? I mean, I didn't call for them, so wow. It's just so weird how that happened, huh?" 

Rhys fidgeted, unsure what the right reaction to that even was. What he wouldn't give for the AI's opinion right now. "Y-Yeah? Huh. Lucky glitch." He settled for playing stupid. 

"Lucky? Do you know the mess it got me into, kiddo? Having a peaceful picnic with a few dignitaries on Pandora and _BOOM_ army."

"Dyuh... what? I thought you were under attack!" Rhys yelped, suddenly worried for his life yet again. Why didn't the AI tell him Jack was safe? She flat out told him he'd helped! And if he wasn't under attack, what was that panicked communique he'd tapped into about?

"I was. I just needed to make sure it was you." Jack shrugged. "You know, hacking into the ECHOnet is a travesty, right? You do that often, Rhysie? Or only when your boss is in need of a little backup?" 

"That's the first time. I... was worried." He could feel heat rising to his cheeks again. 

"Aww. That's precious." Jack slung his arm around Rhys' shoulder as they continued down the corridor. "I'm Handsome Jack. A few bandits aren't gonna take me down, but the canon fodder spared me a few bruises. Good work. Maybe I'll take ya with me next time. Let you get a feel for the world I'm trying to save."

"Oh. I'm uh... flattered, but... that... isn't necessary?" Rhys fumbled for words. Going to Pandora wasn't high on his list of things he wants to do. As a matter of fact, it's probably higher on his list of things he can live without doing. Literally. His life expectancy will probably be cut short by ten years just stepping foot on the planet. 

"Wuss." Jack retorted and chuckled. "Okay, kiddo. I'll let you know when they start testing the prototype." He pulled his arm away as he turned to leave and Rhys almost protested. He caught himself before the sound slipped out. 

The loss of contact made him feel cold, and not just from the loss of body heat. He closed his eyes and leaned against a wall, looking up into the bright lights of the corridor. "Oh my God, she's right. I've got it so bad. Uraah! This blows!" Rhys stormed away, not really caring where 'away' was at the moment. He has a crush on the biggest, most awesome asshole in the universe and he would never be caught dead with a low level employee like Rhys. 

He kept walking, paying no attention to where his path was taking him, too lost in thought to care. By the time he made it back to the apartment, he honestly couldn't remember how he got there. He was pretty sure he had gotten himself hopelessly lost and yet... 

"I've been trying to get a hold of you for hours! Where the hell have you been?" The voice belonged to Yvette who was stalking towards him with attitude.

"You have? I never..." The sentence was abandoned when he fished out his ECHO device and noticed four active entries. "Wow... I didn't hear it once. It maybe the halls back there are shielded or something?" That was weird. How could he have just lost that much time?

**\-----**

Over the next several days, Rhys worked hard, he followed Jack's orders and the mysterious woman's suggestions. He tried his best to ignore that recurring dream of his and told no one about it. He was sure Vaughn knew something was up, but had the decency not to ask. Every time he glanced Jack's way, all he could see was the mental image burned into his mind's eye of the man half undressed while perched over him. 

The first official shipment of the weapons he designed were on their way to the testing market and Rhys was almost buzzing with excitement. Everything couldn't be going better, so when Jack called him to his office, Rhys didn't hesitate. 

"Rhysie, kiddo! Have a seat! Feelin' like a big man after that huge success, I'm sure, right? Right? Eeeh? Yeah, I know you are. It's a good feeling, isn't it?" Jack commended, slapping him on the back a little too roughly, making the lithe young man stumble on his way to his seat. 

"Heh, yeah. It feels kinda good." He replied with a grin. 

"Kinda? Oh, come on Rhysie. Just _kinda_?" Jack goaded. 

"Okay, it feels really good. Like, amazing!" 

"Sure it does. Yeah." Jack's grin was forced, but Rhys was too elated to notice. 

_"Something's wrong."_ The female voice chimed in over the comm in his ear. Rhys immediately froze in his spot, blood turning to ice in his veins. She never contacted him when he was in the office. Something about fearing being heard, but right now, he almost wished she hadn't. _"Just, play it cool. I'll keep an eye and guide you through calming him down."_

"Sooooo, Rhysie." Jack came up behind him in the chair, hands landing on his shoulders to massage them almost too tightly, making Rhys wince and squirm. "Rhysie, Rhysie, ohhhh, what am I gonna do with you, huh kiddo? I almost didn't catch it, you know? I almost thought that maybe you were really just thrilled to be working here, but now I'm thinking you're not who you claim." Jack began, his grip tightening even further making Rhys gasp and actively struggle. 

"Ah-ah-ah! No, no kiddo. You stay put." Jack growled, shoving his shoulders down with surprising strength. 

"Shit! Jack, what's this about?" Rhys squirmed when he got no input from the female voice. 

"Oh, like you don't know. See, I've been checking your communication logs. Loooooots of chatter with that nerdy friend of yours in accounting and the skirt in requisitions. But then there's a blocked contact I can't seem to trace. Almost didn't catch it. Fortunately, I'm kinda awesome and was able to get around some of the scrambling, but I still can't get a beat on the unknown contact. You know what makes me even angrier, Rhysie? What makes this soooo much worse? I was really starting to like you." 

_"Oh shit! I mean, shoot! Sorry. I thought he couldn't trace me. Well, he can't, but I didn't think he could detect me. Okay, just breathe. I'll handle this."_

A holographic form materialised in the space in front of Rhys, standing in faded blue and white hues. Her piercing blue eyes were unusually sorrowful, hands clasped together at her chest. She wore a black tank top and black pants. Upon her appearance, Jack's hands froze in place on Rhys' shoulders. 

"A-Angel! Sweetie, what are you doing, pumpkin? I thought we discussed you showing up when daddy's working. Especially when daddy's about to kill someone. You shouldn't see this." Jack started, but Angel's holographic form stuttered as she moved closer. 

_"I've been talking to Rhys. You've been spending a lot of time with him, so I... I wanted to make sure he was safe. I'm sorry."_

Jack remained quiet for a moment, darkly staring at the tailored hologram of his daughter. Rhys, to his credit, stayed completely silent and still. After a moment, Jack seemed to come to a decision. He drew his ECHO device from his pocket, keyed something into the display and hovered over a button. 

"I'll deal with you later." He all but growled and when he pressed the button, Angel's hologram vanished. "And I'll deal with _you_ now." He grabbed Rhys by the throat and hauled him out of his chair. The younger man was pushed backwards until his back hit the wall and held against it with a tight grip. 

Rhys' hands clawed at Jack's wrist, trying to pry the grip away--to struggle. Anything to allow air to squeeze past the pressure. 

"You can mess with me, that's fine. Make me fall for your stupid little adorable act. But you think you can play some twisted game with my daughter? Ohhhoho, that's not gonna happen, kiddo. It's _not_." Jack punctuated the last word by pulling him from the wall and snapping him back against it again. Rhys felt his head bounce off the surface, sending stars exploding across his vision. With his cybernetic arm, he managed to wrench Jack's grip free just enough to suck in a breath. 

"I--wa-wasn't!" He croaked out. The CEO loosened his grip just enough so Rhys could breathe and continue explaining while he glared venomously into his mismatched eyes. 

"Sh-she came t-to me." 

"Why?" Jack hissed. 

"I don't... don't know." 

It took the CEO several long moments before he released Rhys completely, but didn't step back. The brunette rubbed his throat where he was sure bruises were already blooming over his pale skin. 

"I don't know why. ...did you say you fell for me?" 

"I just about strangled you to death and _that's_ what you choose to focus on right now? You have some strange priorities, kiddo." 

"I--yeah, I can't deny that one at all. But..." Rhys lost his gumption and his thought trailed off, looking away. "Is... is that gone now?" 

"...what?" It was hard to tell if Jack was looking at him or if a baby skag with three heads just walked up behind him, because that was about the look he was giving Rhys. It made the younger man mentally recoil from that thought train. He tried to slip out from between Jack's too imposing body and the wall, but a palm smacked the surface beside his head, blocking his escape. 

"It was a dumb question, I'm sorry." Rhys muttered hastily. Just how many near death experiences can his heart take in the same day?

"Okay, seriously. You're sending me mixed signals, kiddo. Your brain, your body, and your mouth are all on different pages. Take a mo to collect yourself and lemme know what you decide."

He gradually brought his gaze back to Jack's, staring for a long moment. What did he really want? What did _he_ want? He wanted to... 

There were suddenly warm lips against Jack's. Warm, awkward, fumbling lips and Jack... Well, see, at this point in any love story, the two would passionately make out, devouring eachother's mouths then the scene would devolve into frantic, heated groping and crashing onto the desk for a passionate christening. Instead, Rhys felt Jack shaking against him. He opened his eyes to see the man had begun to laugh. The CEO turned his head away, laughing outright. 

"Aaauuuhhhhh, ohhhh, Rhys...! You're just--! Jack's head hit the wall next to Rhys' ear as he continued laughing. "That was just so--Ah-hahaha! Ohmygawd! I can't..." 

"Now who's giving mixed signals, Jack?" Rhys pouted, trying to get away from the cackling hyena. 

"Ohnononono. You're not going anywhere." Jack hooked an arm around Rhys and tugged him to his chest. "No more mixed signals from me, Princess. Was that your first kiss?"

"What!? N-no! Oh my God, am I that bad at it?" To say Rhys was horrified would be an understatement. 

"Nah. Just wanna know what I'm working with. It wouldn't be fair to completely overwhelm you on your first kiss." Jack winked and tipped Rhys' head slightly with his fingertips when they moved to his jaw. He felt the younger man's arms circle his waist and grinned. 

If Jack hadn't been moving in to kiss him, he may not have noticed the vibrant blue of his ECHOeye was suddenly alight with electricity. Small arcs of static electricity jumped around the surface of his data port and the kid's eyes dilated before he went slack in Jack's arms. Eyes still open, but unseeing and mouth slightly agape. 

"Shit! Angel! _Shit!_ " Jack lowered Rhys to the floor and unblocked Angel from his office. "Angel, what the hell just happened?!" Jack shouted, a dangerous edge to his voice. 

_"I-I don't know. You had me blocked from your office, Jack."_

"Figure it out! Scan him!" He had already called for a medical team to his office.

Angel recognised that tone. Jack was on the edge of losing something and he reacted to such by lashing out at everything in range. Seeing as there was no one around for him to shoot, he had to settle for verbal lashing. He was just starting to accept Rhys. Just starting to realise the younger man was actually interested in him, not in screwing him over. He'd made the risky decision to let Rhys in, and not seconds later, the young employee was catatonic in Jack's arms. She knew Jack and she knew not to dally. 

_"There's a malfunction in his data storage. An anomaly that corrupted several hours of memory files. But this was a few days earlier. It looks like his overload is due to a virus that wasn't present before that time frame."_ Angel kept her tone level and calm when she relayed the assessment that she knew he had already figured out. _"Jack, his systems have been hacked."_

"How is that even--? So, his cybernetics make him a security threat?"

_"Wait, Jack!"_

"I want you to drop any other projects you have going right now and work on an aggressive anti-tampering program." 

Jack's order threw the young girl through a loop. Jack didn't fix problems when it came to security. He shot them. Why bother fixing it if it could happen again? Flushing a group of scientists that _might_ contain a traitor out an airlock rather than weeding out the single traitor. That was his solution. So this...

 _"Of course."_

...this was progress. She'd been right about Rhys. Now they just needed to save him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the kudos, comments, and bookmarks! 
> 
> The next chapter won't go up until I have my computer set up. I apologise for the delay.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Moved! And now for the dreaded unpacking. I know I said I was gonna wait for my laptop, but I went ahead and wrote this on my phone again. 
> 
> I'm not real happy with this chapter. It felt rushed again. But, enjoy!

For some reason, his head felt like it was full of cotton and bees. Buzzing and stinging but everything was so muffled. It was endlessly dark and suffocating, but by chance, a pinprick of light in the distance caught his attention, so he ran. He ran and ran until he could make out a shape. The light was coming from behind a closed door, leaking through the cracks. He slowed to a walk when he was close enough to feel the warmth radiating from the door. It was nice compared to the dark, cold, emptiness of this void. He reached out and touched the door, realising there was no handle. 

"No. How do I...?" Rhys asked. 

Beyond the door, he could hear someone trying to answer. Someone was calling his name, but he couldn't make out who. Female? Male? Young? Old? 

"H-hello? Hey, how do I get out of here?!" He asked, beating his fist against the door. After a moment, he pulled back his right arm to haul off and hit the door with the mechanical arm only to realise it was gone. His right arm and left eye, they were both gone. 

"No. No no no no! What the hell's going on! Hey!" 

Rhys turned his shoulder and rammed the door. It gave slightly under the force. He did it again, and again, until the door flew open into a blinding white room, just as empty as the dark void, but somehow much friendlier. 

_"Rhys?"_ Standing in the room was a female he recognised. She was clad in black with yellow accents and bright blue eyes. Rather than walk, her image blinked out of existence and reappeared in front of him. 

"You're... Jack's daughter? I didn't even know he had kids." 

_"Angel."_ She supplied with a warm smile. _"I was trying to clear out your systems. How did you get here?"_

Rhys shrugged, looking around. Where was he, exactly? No sooner did the thought occur to him, than a holographic view screen appeared in front of him, showing security camera footage of his body lying in a medical bed. IVs feeding him nutrients and a long cable plugged into his data port. Rhys touched his own temple then looked back at Angel. 

"Whoa. What is that? What is this? I'm so confused right now."

 _"I think you might have jumped through my up-link with you somehow? We'll call it an out of body experience. Your mind is so used to working with tech, it just sought out the closest available link. It took me forever to learn these systems and you've already learned to access the security feeds."_ She sounded highly impressed. 

"Okay, but... Yeah, no. I'm still confused." Rhys shook his head and returned his attention to the screen. "So, I'm actually asleep? What the hell happened? I was--oh. Oh my God. I kissed Jack!" 

Angel seemed interested in that, blinking closer to him to catch his gaze. _"Did you? He wouldn't tell me what happened."_

To Rhys, she looked excited by this news. "Um. Yes? Is that... Okay? I mean, being his kid and all..." 

She laughed. It was musical and genuinely happy. _"Yes!"_

"So, how does this work? I mean, you... Are you um...?" Just call him Mr. Awkward. 

_"Oh. I suppose it won't hurt to show you."_ Angel's form flickered and broke into code before it began to restructure itself. The young woman Rhys had grown familiar with was being remade before him. A young girl, barely breaching her earliest teenage years blinked up at Rhys. Half her head was shaved showing metal grafted to skin. A glowing white tattoo scrolled down her neck and left arm. 

"Oh." Rhys barely managed the word as he stared. He knelt down to level with her much shorter form. "You're..."

 _"Yeah. A Siren. Jack says I'm special in so many ways. He built this--all of this--for me."_ She gestured to the room around them. _"It doesn't look like much from here, but it gives me access to everything. I even have eyes on Pandora and Elpis."_

"I was gonna say 'small'. But yeah, the other thing, too." Rhys sat cross-legged on the floor. "So, how do we fix me?" He asked, gesturing to the screen. 

_"I'm working on that. Jack's trying to find when you were hacked and by whom. He'll probably end up killing a lot of people before he finds whoever did this."_

"Until then?"

 _"Iunno."_ Angel shrugged. _"I installed Solitaire in here a long time ago."_ With that thought, a screen appeared in front of Rhys and the deck dealt itself over the green surface. 

**\-----**

"Alright, listen here you little weasel, in my experience, it's always people like you running this shit. Sitting comfortably behind the scenes while you stab some poor sap in the back. Normally, I wouldn't give a shit. That's not my problem. But the back you stabbed just so happened to be a back I'm very invested in. Now, I can make your death one of drawn out pain and suffering until you're begging me to bury you alive with angry Kraggons, or you can tell me everything you know and I'll consider making it quick. I'm a nice guy like that. But if you make me ask twice, you'll regret every breath you draw from hear on out. Capisce?" Jack paused, letting his threat sink in. "Who uploaded the virus?" 

Before Jack, tied to a chair with a rope around his chest at the bend of his elbows to hold his back to the chair, was a terrified accountant. The CEO was pretty sure the guy pissed himself when Jack came to the door, and when he pulled out the gun, the man passed out. It would've been hilarious if he didn't have a catatonic Rhys lying in medical. But Jack always knew, in these situations, it was someone close to the victim. The Meriff, Moxxi, Lilith... 

Vaughn yelped, cowering in sheer terror. "I-I-I know this is g-gonna s-sound cliché, b-but I d-don't know what you're talking about!" The nerd managed to shake the words out. 

"No? Your little attack on Rhys. Ring any bells?" Jack's tone was calm, dripping with venom. At the mention of Rhys' name, Vaughn's eyes widened and he jerked in the chair. The fear seemed to melt away into something else. Panic? Concern? 

"Rhys was attacked?! How-how bad is it?! Oh God, is he gonna be okay?! I knew this promotion was gonna get him hurt!" 

"Whoa, whoa. Slow down there, little man. What do you know?"

"I just know anyone close to you doesn't last long. If you didn't kill him, someone else would for his job." Vaughn, at this point, had abandoned most rational restraint. 

"Okay, there's a several hour gap in security that I wouldn't have even bothered with. We checked and managed to get eyes on the skirt in requisitions, you're the only one close to Rhysie that went off the grid for that span, but there are 200 other nerds and idiots that fell into that blackout period." He brought up the data and showed it to the accountant, who adjusted his glasses and skimmed over it. 

"Oh. I can tell you exactly where I was." The man muttered, embarrassed. When Jack raised a brow to indicate he'd better continue, he did. "Th-The bathroom. I... I ate a bad pizza. I filed a complaint and everything. I spent the next like, five hours on the toilet."

"...ew. Wow. Way too much information there, kiddo. Alright, alright, alright. Any idea who might want him dead?"

"Dead?!" Panic jumped back to Vaughn's features. "Oh God, how bad is he hurt?!" 

"Yeesh." Jack rubbed his thumb and index finger into his eyes to relieve some of the stress. "Focus, nerd." Jack held the list out to Vaughn, who flailed his arms out to reach, but just couldn't with them bound the way they were. The CEO rolled his eyes and held it closer so he could take it. "Look over that list and tell me if any of those names jump out at you." He then stepped just out of the room. 

"Angel, got anything for me yet?"

 _"Nothing yet."_ The female replied. 

Rhys looked up when Jack's face appeared on a screen, still involved in his third or fourth Solitaire game, but said nothing. 

Jack sighed and turned back to the room, the security feeds following his movements with ease when a voice off screen spoke. 

"Yeah, I-I don't know any of these people." Vaughn called from the other room. 

Rhys startled and his eyes snapped up to the video. 

"How can you not know a single name on that list? You work on the same deck with all of them. In the same room with at least half of them." Jack replied, exasperated. 

"No one really... talks to me. Except Rhys and Yvette." When Vaughn came into view, Rhys saw his predicament and jumped to his feet to get closer to the screen. 

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa whoa whoa _whoa_. That's Vaughn! That's--no. Nonono! It wasn't--Jack, let him go! Angel, tell him to--" But by then, everyone had fallen silent and the young middle manager looked around, not quite following why everything stopped. 

"Rhys?! You're okay?!" Vaughn squirmed in the chair, trying to look around. 

Jack abruptly moved out of the room, shutting the door behind him. "Angel! You were supposed to tell me when he woke up!"

 _"Well, technically, he hasn't yet."_ Was Angel's reply. 

"Sweetie, daddy is not in the mood for games. Explain."

_"I'm not exactly sure how... Rhys found a way to project into my control core's hub through the debugging link. He's... keeping me company and in a dire situation, I'm... keeping his consciousness safe."_

"Whoa. Wait. _Dire situation?_ Like what?" Rhys panicked. 

_"The virus is slowly deteriorating everything. With enough feedback from your cybernetics, it could... you could be left brain dead."_

"So, my body could...?" He looked back at the door that was shut tight again. 

"That's it. I'm blowing the airlocks on the entire deck." Jack growled and was abruptly moving into the other room.

Vaughn caught the conversation and started trying to hop the chair to turn towards Jack. "Wait! Don't you need whoever did this alive? To fix it?"

"Which is impossible without any kind of lead." Jack replied coolly, but with a distinct edge of agitation. 

"Shouldn't Rhys know who attacked him?" Vaughn asked innocently. 

"The attacker wiped his memory. I have the brightest person in the galaxy working on that, but..." Jack trailed off as a thought dawned on him. "Angel, you're rummaging through his head without a map, which is why you can't find shit. You _have_ a map now."

"Right! My head's probably like a maze to you without knowing what it's supposed to look like!" Rhys chimed in. 

_"'Maze' is a bit organised for what I'm looking at. It's more like a Helios-sized mountain of papers, and I'm digging through them trying to find the one with eraser marks."_ Angel explained but stepped back. A console of sorts materialised in front of Rhys. _"Be careful."_

Rhys nodded and touched the controls, which looked very much to him like a video game set up.

**\-----**

The world around Rhys shifted as he entered his memory. When he stepped into the virtual mound of papers, it was just as Angel described. A jumbled mess his mind was trying to make sense of, but after a moment, it dissolved and pulled back, rebuilding itself around Rhys. His mind provided the template needed to make sense of the room. 

His ECHOeye returned and activated to search the files for that specific moment. The space around him was a full library stacked with books. He searched and scanned every shelf until one came into view with a missing book. With his ECHOeye, he could see the book, like a ghost image, but without it, it was empty. 

"Here we go." Rhys reached out and touched the book, causing it to jump off the shelf and hover before him. It was locked. "Okay, I can do this." He touched the keyhole and 'RHYSWINZ:P.EXE' flashed across his ECHOeye. Keys materialise in the air around him, floating and glowing golden in the dimly lit space. He plucked one from the air and tried it. 

Ten keys in, he was still having no luck. "Oh, this is gonna be fun..." He muttered. 

_"Let me help."_ Angel's voice cut through the silence. A white glowing mass filled the keyhole and pulled out the perfect shape of the key. _"Now you just have to find the match."_

"You are awesome." He grinned and scanned it with his ECHOeye, then looked at the mess of keys. One began glowing brighter than the rest. "Gotcha!" The book and the world around Rhys fell apart, like the cohesion keeping it together vanished. 

**\-----**

The memory reassembled around him, watching it as if for the first time.

He kept walking, paying no attention to where his path was taking him, too lost in thought to care. He had a crush on Jack and that just couldn't be good. He wasn't sure how long he'd been walking before someone called his name uncertainly. 

"Uh, you Rhys?" 

Rhys turned around to see a rather generic Hyperion employee looking at him. 

"Yep."

"Oh, good. Apparently Handsome Jack left me instructions to run a security sweep on your implants and upgrade the software. Something to do with a promotion? He wants everything running at its best. You know how he can be." The man smiled and shrugged, motioning for him to follow. 

"Oh, yeah. Sure. Um... how much are these upgrades gonna cost?" Rhys answered, following him. 

"Already paid for."

"Oh. Okay." Rhys was lead down a few decks and brought into one of the tech's rooms. He took a seat and the tech plugged a device into his data port. At about that time, a sharply dressed man with jet black hair and neatly trimmed beard stepped out of the shadows. 

"Hello, Rhys. We meet again, but this time, I'm the man with a plan. This time, I'll be the one claimed under our idol, Handsome Jack. This time, it'll be--wait, that came out wrong. You get what I'm saying. I win. What d'you have to say to that, Rhys?"

"Uh... do I know you?" Rhys asked, genuinely confused by all of this. 

"We-heh-heh-ell, don't even remember the faces you trample on your way to the top? I can respect that. Ambitious. Good for you. But it won't save you."

Rhys started to move, then. "Woah, wait, what? Save me from what? Hey!" The tech held him down. 

"You see, Rhys, that promotion was mine. I'd been working hard for Jack to notice me. Notice my potential. Killed a lot of people in my way. Then you waltz in and shoot--"

"Wait. Is that the rumour going around? That _I_ shot Anderson? _Jack_ shot him. I was just the lucky idiot there to take his place." Rhys argued, still fighting against the tech. 

"Be that as it may, I'm still taking you out. ...of the way. Not like, on a date. That'd be... weird. What I mean is, I'm going to kill you." 

"Yeah, I think I get it." Rhys rolled his eyes. "...wait, I recognise your voice." But where had he heard it before? 

"Good. I'm not without courtesy. It's only fair you know the name of your killer so you can rest in piece." The man stepped in close and bent over to level his gaze with Rhys'. "But first, it's only fair to tell you, I'm about to upload a virus into your data port that will wipe your memory and leave you a vegetable so it looks like a malfunction or something. I dunno. I bought it from some guy on Pandora and it sounded poetic somehow." The man shrugged. 

At that point, Rhys was more interested in getting away than knowing his captor's name. He took his chance and butted his head forward as hard as he could, catching the dark haired man in the bridge of the nose then surged forward to make an escape. Unfortunately, the tech hit the button in a moment of fear and the virus was uploaded into Rhys. As he started to black out, a random thought occurred to him: This was the implant guy from the ECHO he overheard, Hugo Vasquez.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Insert dramatic "dun dun duuuuuuuuuh" music here. 
> 
> Thank you again for the lovely comments and kudos!


End file.
